After making headlines about his club future and allegations of tax fraud, Cristiano Ronaldo has got everyone talking once again by scoring Portugal's only goal in a 1-0 victory over hosts Russia in the Confederations Cup.
It took just eight minutes for the four-time Ballon d'Or winner to put his nation ahead thanks to some build-up play from Bernardo Silva and Raphael Guerreiro.
The new Manchester City signing found space down the left-hand side for Guerreiro, who delivered a cross towards the back post where Ronaldo was positioned to comfortably head home.
Portugal dominated the majority of the first half, and could have made it two goals to the good when Ronaldo showed his trademark skill with a stepover before unleashing a powerful low strike, but goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made a crucial stop.
Russia had spells of attacking prowess in the opening 45 minutes, with Aleksandr Golovkin showing pace with a counter-attack down the right, but his low effort was blocked.
A few minutes later, Denis Glushakov's attempt from distance failed to find a way through as Bruno Alves managed to get in the way to stop the ball in its tracks.
After the break, Portugal came close to scoring a second goal, but Akinfeev pulled off an impressive save to deny Andre Silva from getting on the scoresheet.
The ball was crossed in from the right-hand side to find Silva, who nodded towards goal just five yards out, but the keeper managed to tip the ball wide despite lunging the wrong way.
Russia grew into the game as the minutes ticked by, with one move inches away from resulting in an equaliser when Aleksandr Samedov aimed a cross towards Fyodor Smolov, but he failed to connect by a whisker.
At the other end of the pitch, Ronaldo missed a handful of chances, one of which ended up with his first-time shot soaring over the bar from the edge of the box.
Another opportunity for the Real Madrid man was handed to him from Andre Gomes, whose surge to the byline ended in a clipped pass to his teammate, who sent his header wide.
Russia upped their game by flinging cross after cross into the danger area, but they were unable to get the goal that they were searching for, eventually settling for a defeat.
Ronaldo has now scored 13 goals in his last eight appearances for his country across all competitions.
Portugal top Group A after two games.
